The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art. Indicating instruments such as gauges for viewing by drivers of vehicles generally include an analog portion for displaying operational information such as vehicle speed, and in more recent technologically advanced vehicles, a liquid crystal display for displaying information related to vehicle operating conditions such as fuel efficiency, outside temperature, engine and transmission functions, and other information related to driving or vehicle conditions. An analog gauge typically includes a faceplate having indicia adjacent a scale to denote levels of the scale and a pointer for rotating to the indicia and scale numbers, such as mile per hour (“mph”) markings. While such analog indicating instruments and liquid crystal displays have generally proven satisfactory for their intended purposes, they have been associated with their share of limitations.
One such limitation of current vehicles with both analog and liquid crystal display devices relates to their packaging in a vehicle dash. Because such analog and LCD devices are normally located in separate, side-by-side locations on a vehicle dash, extensive amounts of dash space are required which leaves a limited area of dash space for locating other gauges, such as analog temperature, fuel, and tachometer gauges, as examples.
Another limitation of current vehicles employing both analog and liquid crystal display devices is also related to vehicle packaging. More specifically, because incorporating analog and LCD devices within a vehicle dash presently means locating such devices in separate areas of the dash, even if they are adjacent to each other, the time necessary for a driver to view both, the analog gauge and an LCD, and the human movements required to view both, may be cumbersome or timely inefficient for a vehicle driver to quickly view both components.
What is needed then is a device that does not suffer from the above disadvantages. This, in turn, will provide an analog and an LCD device that is efficiently packaged for a vehicle dash, that is timely efficient for a driver to view, and that does not require extensive head or eye movements as a driver views such devices.